Vacuum hubs failed (sorry!) any ideas/worth effort

So! 1998 Jimny, vacuum system apparently worked until a couple of months ago but I suspect the front hubs were just locked on and corrosion had blocked the pipes so the system thought it was working correctly, though 4wd definitely did work. 

Anyway it packed in.  I had a look and all of the metal pipes are gone in places, some of the silicone ones had holes in. Replaced entire pipe runs from the solenoids to the hubs with silicone, red for lock blue for unlock to make it easier to keep track.

Everything but the passenger hub is working. So it won’t go into 4wd whilst  the passenger hub connected to the vacuum lines, but if I plug the lines at the hub so it’s just the right hand side, it’ll go in and out just fine. Blowing through the hub there is a bit of resistance but evidently a leak.

Recently done the king pin bearings and just this morning did the wheel bearing thinking it might be this, as it was showing wear and had no grease in. admittedly I didn’t torque the bearing to spec this morning as I didn’t have the right wrench, just did it with a massive breaker and feel.

wondering if anyone has any incline what it could be leaking within the hub assembly itself and ultimately… is it even worth chasing down or do I just get manual hubs?

oh and the left hand hub/bellows was full of rust and crap, I’ve dismantled it and cleaned it. No difference, swapped them over and it’s the same symptoms so the issue seems to be something not sealing within the spindle/bearing side, or even a minor crack?

as always greatly appreciate any input!

Ok so you have swapped the locking hubs side to side but the fault remains on the same side. That suggests the the actual hubs are working and therfore it must be something on the actual axle. What state is the sealing flange on the bearing nut in, it needs to be clean and smooth and not worn as to allow the seal to work?

I cleaned it up when putting to the bearing back, but I did notice its slightly pockmarked and a bit scuffed right where the bearing seats against the hub. Worth a final clean or game over for it? I'm already about 10 hours into tracking down/trying to repair the leak, might invest the time into something else (overtime) and just get some manual hubs.
Cheers!

Did you change the seal behind the wheel bearing? This is the critical one for the hub to lock correctly. There is another seal where the CV shaft enters the rear of the hub assembly, if that leaks it will stop the hub unlocking. And the seal around the hub nut is the middle ground. This seal needs to be good for either side to work.
Sounds like you're very close. The bearing and CV shaft seals are important to keep grit out of the hub, so should be in good condition regardless of whether you have vacuum or manual hubs.

Wheel bearing torque won't affect it unless it's ridiculously loose, but then you would have much bigger things to worry about!